PAIR OF EMPIRE PERIOD ARMCHAIRS, ROME, CIRCA 1806 After a design by Dionisio and Lorenzo Santi In carved and gilded wood, the curved back decorated in the centre with an eagle with outstretched wings encircled by a laurel wreath, the fluted pilaster uprights surmounted by capitals decorated with water leaves, the armrest supports decorated with griffins, the fluted waist, resting on claw feet at the front and sabre feet at the back, upholstered in cream cotton, printed label inscribed "C. S. BONIF. / 140" on the back of one of the two armchairs; minor damage and missing gilding, traces of worm damage. H. 108 cm (42 ½ in.) l. 67.5 cm (26 ½ in.) Provenance: Very probably part of the suite delivered for Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839) at the Palazzo del Bufalo, Rome ; Most probably transferred in 1815 to the Hôtel Hocquart de Montfermeil, Paris; Very probably sold in Paris on 17 June 1816; Very probably former collection of Prince Anatole Demidoff (1813-1870), Florence; Very probably Prince Paul Demidoff (1839-1885), his nephew; Very probably sold in Florence, collections of the San Donato palace, 15 March 1880 onwards; Acquired in the 1920s from an antique dealer by the grandparents of the present owners; European aristocratic collection. A pair of Empire giltwood armchairs, after a design by Dionisio and Lorenzo Santi, Rome, circa 1806